“Thank you,” she whispered.
He nodded. “The earl will be with you momentarily. And your maid is very comfortably situated now, so you won’t have to worry about her.”
Elise managed a smile for the kindness of Stenfax’s butler. She certainly did not deserve as much.
“Good night, Your Grace. If I can be of any service tomorrow, I hope you will not hesitate.” He executed a swift bow then left her to herself again.
Elise sighed and rose to her feet, walking over to the fire to stare at it with the eye that wasn’t currently covered. The other one still hurt, but the ice did help a bit.
“Elise?”
She turned and caught her breath. Stenfax stood in the doorway, a robe tied around his waist, but his legs and feet were bare and a V of naked chest was visible through the top of the dressing gown. He was not wearing anything beneath, and her body tensed despite everything she’d been through that night.
He said nothing else, just moved across the room toward her. She waited for him, motionless and wordless as he gently caught her hand and lowered the cloth from her eye.
His gaze went wide and his lips turned down in an angry scowl as he looked at her eye. She hadn’t looked at it yet, but she could feel that it was swollen.
“Goddamn it,” he said, and then lifted the ice back to cover the injury.
“It doesn’t hurt,” she whispered.
“Liar,” he bit out, his tone harsh and hard.
She bent her head. Yes, they both knew she was that. But tonight had stripped all those lies away. All the truths would come out now. She might as well start practicing on easier ones than the ones to come.
“It does hurt,” she admitted. “But it will fade.”
“Better,” he said. “Who did this to you? Winstead?”
She caught her breath as she looked at him again. “H-how did you know I was with Winstead tonight?”
He let out a long sigh. “I went to Vivien’s. I-I saw you with him.”
She pursed her lips. “Do you also know we agreed to terms tonight?”
He stiffened and his jaw twitched, answering her question before he bit out. “No. I did not.”
“It wasn’t him who did this, Lucien.”
“Then who?” he asked, his voice still rough as he reached out to trace her jaw with his fingertips. “Who did this?”
She fought for calm. The truth had never been easy with this man. Even less so now that it was a Pandora’s Box of pain waiting to be unleashed on both of them and everyone else they loved.
“The new Duke of Kirkford,” she admitted softly.
Everything on Lucien’s face went dark and hard. Like a storm on an angry sea, he looked utterly destructive and dangerous.
“He burst into my room, demanding—” She cut herself off with a sob she hadn’t even known was coming. “But I didn’t let him.”
Silently, Lucien slid his arms around her and drew her against his chest. He smoothed a hand over her hair as he whispered, “You don’t have to tell me tonight. There will be plenty of time to do it tomorrow. But I do want to ask one thing.”
She nodded against his chest, soothed by his embrace, by his scent, by everything that she loved about him.
“If you came to terms with Winstead, why did you come here after you were attacked?”
She let out a broken breath. “Because I didn’t know where he lived,” she admitted, and felt Stenfax stiffen. She lifted her gaze so he could see her eyes. “And because I knew you would keep me safe. Even if I don’t deserve it.”
His expression softened and he whispered, “You don’tdeserveto be in danger, Elise. Now, come. It’s very late and we can talk about everything tomorrow. Let me take you upstairs.”
